There is no word for goodbye in the Lakota language, instead “Tókša akhé”is used to say see you later or see you again. This word is perfect to capture my thoughts on coming back to Pine Ridge. I never say goodbye to Pine Ridge and the people here, just see you later. Even though I have not visited in over a year, I felt the welcome when arriving yesterday. It is great to be back!
We left Louisville bright and early yesterday morning and got delayed in Minneapolis. We finally made it to Rapid City at 11 am mountain time. After a near heart attack at the rental counter (the Budget guy told me that they had a Ford Focus for my party of 8), we loaded up and hit the road. I completely overestimated the cargo room in the SUV we got, so no trip for supplies in Rapid City. Instead we went to pick up our 70 pounds of donated toothbrushes from Erika’s apartment (student from Methodist who moved to Rapid after graduation). The students impressed me greatly in their first unplanned problem-solving activity; they were able to fit 800 toothbrushes and toothpaste into our already overfull cargo area!
I decided to mix it up and just get the sight-seeing at Mt Rushmore over with since we were close. After taking the requisite hour to see this, we headed to Pine Ridge. Even though my fatigue from an early morning, stress about a travel delay, and a two-hour time difference from home was catching up with me, I felt the immediate lift in my energy when we got to the reservation. After a smooth check-in at the Lakota Prairie and my favorite greeting–“You’ve stayed here before, haven’t you?”, we decided to go to the pow wow in Pine Ridge to meet Erika and to go ahead and start to experience all that we can.
The Oglala Nation Pow Wow is a weekend long event that will have approximately 800 dancers total. Thursday night is opening night so the crowd is small and the atmosphere relaxed. We walked around, watched the dancing, and ate the always delicious Indian Taco. After sitting down to watch the dancing, we had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of a Lakota elder named Cecil Young Dog. He talked to us for probably an hour, and made the statement that when you show kindness and reach out to learn about the Lakota, you will receive this kindness back in 10-fold from the Lakota. I have found this to be quite true in my experiences on the reservation, and our interaction with Cecil proved this as well. He very kindly explained the meaning of different dances, what the drumbeat for the dance signifies, and told us about his life. He will be dancing tomorrow (or today now) so we will be looking for him in blue regalia at the 7pm Golden Age Dance! He kept inviting us to dance during the dances that all are welcome to join in on, and finally during the courtship dance, pulled Erika out into the circle. He guided her around and taught her the steps for this couple’s dance. Essentially, the steps are two steps forward and one step back to the beat of the drum–an excellent metaphor for marriage and relationships! Erika is an awesome pow wow dancer and impressed me for probably the zillionth time with her ability to make a connection, overcome her fears, and challenge herself. She is a great example to all, and especially for these students!
Tókša akhé to all back home!
Nursing Students at Pine Ridge 